52-foot long Pregnant Great Sperm Whale found dead off Zambo City, Philippine

By Roel Pareño Home

September 19, 2012

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A pregnant Great Sperm Whale was found dead by coast guard personnel near Sacol Island, Wednesday morning.

Lt. Commander Elizer Dalnay, Coast Station chief, said the whale was spotted by coast guard personnel on board the Bureau of Fisheries Aquatic Resources (BFAR) patrol boat at around 6:12 a.m. some 1.5 nautical miles south off Sacol Island.

A 52-foot long Great Sperm Whale was found dead in waters off Sacol Island in Zamboanga, September 19, 2012. The 30-ton whale was pregnant, according to a local veterinarian. ROEL PARENO

The coast guard team was enroute from Basilan to Zamboanga City.

The whale, believed to have been dead for several days already, was immediately towed to the port of the Philippine Port Authority and turned over to the BFAR and the Department of Agriculture.

Dr. Mario Ariola, city veterinary, said the dead mammal was a Great Sperm Whale. She said that the whale was at least 52-foot long or roughly around 18 meters in length.

Ariola said that the whale was pregnant with her calf visible from its genital slit.

Ramil delos Reyes, a member of BFAR Marine-Mammal Stranding Response Network, said the Great Sperm Whale died possibly due to sickness.

Delos Reyes added that they only saw “visible spots of injury” in the whale’s body, but said that these “were due to the barnacles” and could not have been the cause of the mammal’s death.

He said the whale, with scientific name physeter macrocephalos, was already in a matured stage and was around 10 years old.

Delos Reyes said they also considered the recovered dead whale as one of the largest dead whale found in the region based on the BFAR’s record.

A mechanical crane truck was used to fish out the whale’s body from the sea. The crane operator estimated the whale’s weight at about 30 tons.

Two fork-lift trucks were also used to load the whale to an 18-wheeler trailer cargo truck before it was transported to the BFAR center.

Meanwhile, BFAR authorities have yet to decide if they should bury the whale’s body or just sink it back to the ocean.

The Great Sperm Whale’s discovery came after the stranding of two pygmy sperm whales in the beaches of Zambales and La union. The two whales died despite efforts to save them from their injuries.

The first pygmy sperm whale was found in San Narciso, Zambales on Sunday. The second whale was found near the coast of Barangay Dalumpinas in San Fernando City, La Union on Monday.

The two whales died a day after they were discovered.

philstar.com

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